The Columbus girls basketball team turned a slim three point halftime lead into a 57-35 win at home Friday night over IMS. Columbus used a huge 27-5 run that spanned the entire third quarter to get the breathing room they needed to secure the win. The Wildcats were hungry for a win following a close overtime loss to IMS in Kalona earlier in the season. The first half was back and forth with eight lead changes and Head Coach Aaron Gingerich spoke after the game about the tight first half.

“We knew it would be a physical tough, man-to-man type of game and we knew Columbus likes to play like that, and I thought in the first half we did a pretty good job handling the pressure and hanging in there a little bit, down by three in the half,” Gingerich said. “We went to a 2-3 zone thought that we could slow them down inside a little bit, but really Megan Pretz had her way with us inside.”

Megan Pretz led the interior offense and second half charge for Columbus, helping the Wildcats control the paint. Following the game Pretz talked about the Columbus Coaching staff’s message at halftime of the close game.

“Both our coaches kept saying extend the lead, and w knew that is what we had to do if we didn’t want a repeat of last time, so we just went out there and did our best,” Pretz said.changes.

Pretz led the way for Columbus with another double double performance, posting 16 points and 11 boards. Kelsey Pretz added 14 and Martha Anaya had 10 for the Wildcats who improve to 9-7 overall and 8-7 in conference play. IMS is now 7-10 overall and 6-10 in conference play.